Chapter 85 - Brie (2/2)

”James, why did you tell them that you will return me to them? You know it's not that easy.” She asked.

James took a deep breath then held her hands.

”Nina, I want to live a peaceful life away from everyone. The reason I agreed to your request on meeting with Luke Wilson was that I wanted to end the feud with him and to return you to where your heart belongs.” James answered.

Nina bit her lips. For the past four years, she had never loved James. He knew that and was thankful for what he did for her. She stayed married to him because he never even once showed anything bad towards her. He never hurt her.

Her life with the Santelmo's was scary and dangerous. She had tried a lot of times to escape from Paolo Santelmo, but he would always catch her. She was beaten and tortured by Paolo himself in her first two years with the mafia clan. It stopped when James begged his father and told him to hurt him instead.

James became her savior. Whenever Paolo would get mad at her, James would be the one to get her punishment. She couldn't understand why James would do that for her.

But then he suddenly confessed, telling Nina he was in love with her from the first time they met in Flousia. She sincerely answered James and he understood.

Andrew was the only man in her heart. Even though James was a nice guy, she couldn't force herself to love him. James was a husband material type of guy, loving and caring, but her heart already belonged to someone else.

”But James, you know it's impossible. I betrayed my friends. I betrayed Andrew. He would never forgive me.” She said.

”Maybe you did betray them, but you only did that for Andrew and your family. Dad threatened you. You have to tell him everything.” James responded.

Nina frowned. She couldn't understand the real reason why he wanted her to tell the truth to Andrew.

”Explain to me why you are acting like that? Are you really going to leave me and return me to Andrew?” She asked.

James nodded then sighed again.

”Nina, I want to go far away from here. I talked to everyone from the clan, and they agreed. They also wanted peace so we were planning to move to another country and start new.” James answered.

Nina couldn't believe what she heard. If he planned on moving to another country, will he divorce her? She thought to herself.

”Yes. I will give your freedom back. Nina, I need to let you go. I don't want to tie you with me any longer. I wanted to apologize to you for what my father did, and I'm sorry it took me four years to finally free you from the clan.” James continued when he saw her face had a lot of questions.

Nina felt the tears flowing in her eyes. She waited for four years to hear those words. She was thankful for everything James did for her, but she knew they could never be together if only one of them was in love.

”How about Brie?” She asked.

James glanced at the little girl sleeping quietly in Nina's lap.

”She would understand. Brie is a smart girl. You know this is the best thing we have to do. I love you, Nina. But I don't want to stay in a marriage without your love anymore. I was happy just to be with you. I'm thankful for giving me a chance to be a father. But I don't want to fool myself anymore. I want you to be happy, and I know you will truly be happy with Andrew.”

Nina cried. She was happy that James would finally let her go, but she was afraid that Andrew would never accept her again. Her heart felt like it was being pierced because James wasn't a bad guy. He was everything that a woman could ask for. She knew she was also hurting him. And it breaks her heart to not return his love for her.

”Hey, don't cry. I already know that I have to let you go one day. I had accepted it a long time ago. Believe me, you made those four years less boring.” James said.

From the moment he was born, he never felt someone had truly cared for him. The world he lived and grew up in was a lot different from the others. His life was dark and lonely but it changed when he got married to Nina.

He began to appreciate the lives of others, and that family was more important than anyone. He finally learned to love and know the true meaning of it.

”James, I'm sorry. Believe me, I tried to love you, but he was the only one who owns my heart. Even though he hated me so much, I love him and I don't think I would love any other man beside him.” She cried.

James pulled her in his arms, caressing her back to comfort her. He knew Nina's sacrifices for Andrew, but he couldn't blame the man for getting mad at her. Her decision was really stupid back then. Andrew and the Wilson's were more powerful than the Santelmo's. She would definitely get protected if she just thought of her decision carefully.

”Hey, everything would be okay. He will eventually understand it. And besides, you have a little girl here. He would be happy to know that Brie is his daughter. You have to tell him, Nina. You have to tell him that we never slept with each other. Tell him that all of you still belong to him.”

Nina bit her lips. She felt guilty for James.

She looked at her daughter and remembered the day she found out she was pregnant with her.